WhiteSoxFan

I've peeked into some rooms where I felt so bad for the room attendant.  It was like a bomb went off inside.
As Matt said, you can argue the merits of the system but you have to realize that the gratuities are basically their income.  The cruise lines pay a minimal monthly salary and the vast majority of their earnings come from these gratuities. Whether one feels this is right or wrong doesn't change the fact that this is how the system works.

I've peeked into some rooms where I felt so bad for the room attendant.  It was like a bomb went off inside.
As Matt said, you can argue the merits of the system but you have to realize that the gratuities are basically their income.  The cruise lines pay a minimal monthly salary and the vast majority of their earnings come from these gratuities. Whether one feels this is right or wrong doesn't change the fact that this is how the system works.

Deck 7 corner aft on Voyager and Freedom class are also outstanding cabins.  The room is standard size but the balcony is about as large as the room.  Great view out the side.
 

The balcony:
 

The balcony:
 

The balcony:
 

Pick up is at the MIA RCC.  Just take the elevator or escalator to the top floor and the taxi/ride sharing is in the middle on the west side.  Basically you will walk out to the top floor of the parking deck.

I booked a 5 day Explorer sailing in Jan. 2020 the last day of the previous sale. MEI re-priced with the new offer and the pricing was exactly the same but I got the $50 savings on top of my C & A balcony discount!  Anytime I can cruise for less than $125/day pp with gratuities and refundable deposit included, I'm in!
 
 

No benefits, this is remarkably unmagical loyalty program!

That's a $19 wedding present to M&M Poole! ?

We ate in the MDR two nights of this cruise, not Thanksgiving though.  We found the service to be fast and the food to be the typical MDR experience.  We elected to go to the WJ on Thanksgiving, We wanted to partake in the group cruise toast and then grab a quick dinner.  It sounds like it was better than your MDR experience. 
The specialty restaurants were top notch for sure.  We did Chops, Wonderland and 150 Central Park for dinner, all excellent and Jamie's for lunch, also excellent.
I thought one of the amazing additions to the ship was Playmakers.  We didn't have any food from there but the atmosphere for the games was incredible.
As far as ports, we enjoyed Roatan.  We did a private tour from Victor Boddan and had a tour as well as my daughter and her fiance did ziplining. In Costa Maya we went to Maya Chan which was really my favorite stop of the cruise because 1) Tequilla, 2) Great food, 3) Amazing service & 4) Great company. In Cozumel we did Paradise Beach.  We had a great time at the beach with food and drinks for about half of what an all inclusive would have cost. In Nassau we stayed on the ship preferring to enjoy the half full ship.
The other amazing part of this cruise was the entertainment, the shows are great, although we missed getting to see Flight.
Sorry to hijack you mini-review with my mini-review.

For an FYI.  It pays to grab a porter and have them handle your bags.  The porters have a separate line through customs and you can save an incredible amount of time waiting in line.
We did this last time we were at San Juan and got to the airport pretty early.

Here is a pic of the Mariner docked at Terminal A.  You can see how close the garage is to the terminal.  From the pictures I've seen it appears the bag drop area is underneath the garage beside the terminal building.
 

I am happy to report that Venice is not flooded and we were able to get to pizza and gelato. Tomorrow is Embarkation Day!!

This will be one cruise where I don't have to save my Compasses for you Matt.

C & A will provide equal benefits to significant others living at the same address.  For example my daughter's fiance enjoys Diamond status even though he only has 21 cruise points as they live at the same address and she has notified C & A that he is her SO.
in your case you will receive Gold benefits but your traveling companion will not unless she has at least one cruise with RC.
In regards to check-in and boarding I would simply show them your set sail & sea pass with your gold status, I do not think they will ask to see hers.   

I have seen in the past where the booking engine will not offer up cabins that sleep 3 as available to book if you only select 2 in the cabin.  I don't know it this is still the case.

I'm not saying it's not doable but it depends on the level of stress you're willing to handle.  We (3 of us) did a 10:40AM flight when we went on Allure the first time.  Up at 5:30AM, walk off with our luggage as soon as they let us off and a quick cab to the airport.

For an FYI.  It pays to grab a porter and have them handle your bags.  The porters have a separate line through customs and you can save an incredible amount of time waiting in line.
We did this last time we were at San Juan and got to the airport pretty early.

I imagine a vast majority of guests buy their package onboard. They do little to no research before the cruise and simply show up. 

Yes it is.  I believe that the Mariner, Allure and Symphony will be using it all the time starting abut mid November.

https://seaport2.miamidade.gov/dailydock/Default.aspx
 
Thanks to @twangster on that!

I have sailed the Allure twice and I think the Oasis class may be the best at distributing the people around the ship.  There is so much on these ships that I feel they feel less crowded, generally speaking, than some of the smaller ships.

Short answer is no.  Like Matt always suggest, take a UBS charging hub where you can charge multiple devices at once.  It is allowed and most of what you're probably needing to plug in is a USB charger anyway.

Okay, decision made, based on this ALMOST civil thread. I will be paying all EXCEPT $100 plus fees and taxes.
Keeping it real. Keeping it cool. Keeping it civil. 
Many thanks.